Man from UNCLE Piranha

[hendie]

I just popped in here for a breather - I needed something to take my mind off that 504 for a week or two and I thought that something nice and simple, something nice and easy, with little or no no scratchbuilding or rigging or printing would fit the bill nicely.  I had been on the lookout for a Man from UNCLE Piranha for a number of years and almost succumbed to paying the crazy price those old kits were going for - anywhere from $150 to $300 or so.  There seemed no other way as (afaik) the original molds had been revamped to produce some drag racer based on the original Piranha so there was little chance of it ever being released again... until a year or two ago when Round 2 picked it up and re-re-vamped the molds to take it back to the original Spy Car.  A quick search picked up a new version for about $20 which was a much more welcome price.

As you do when you get a new kit, you look in the box and turn a few pieces over in your hands and make some ooh and ahhh noises, but I never gave it much more than that and duly threw it into the stash.   After the butt-kicking that my 504 gave me the other week it seemed that now would be a good time to pull out the PIranha and have a little detour.  

Out of the box - that's the key - keep it simple.  That was my plan.

Out of the box it came.

 

 

and I started looking a little bit closer at the parts.    Hhhmmnnn... not so good.

Lots of flash and when you look closer, a lot of mold parting line mismatch.  The detail is very soft and some of the parts are very questionable - they look nothing like the part depicted in the instructions.

 

 

Out of the box I said.  Lets start cleaning things up and see how we get on then.

One thing I did notice was there there appeared to be a lot of chromed parts. A lot of them.  I'm not a great fan of chromed kit parts, and they never work anyway as you've usually got to put glue somewhere and the finish gets all messed up.  

I dumped all the chrome parts in an ammonia bath for a day or two, and this was the result after some scrubbing. 

 

 

Nope, the parts aren't wet.  The ammonia did it's job of eating all the chrome finish but it didn't do a very good job of removing the underlying nickel/copper base - I was left with a bunch of plastic with a horrible brownish looking snot in all the nooks and crannies.  Oh well, out with the oven cleaner this time and everything was dumped in a poly bag of oven cleaner for a day.  More scrubbing ensued and the parts looked a bit better but were still not something to write home about.

The reason I attempted this de-chroming early on is because the very first block of instructions are to build the engine and there were a lot of chintzy looking chromed parts on the engine.  Very little else can be assembled until the engine is in place so I was between a rock and an even bigger rock.

After a few hours work I had a bunch of plastic lumps purporting to be an engine of sorts.

 

 

Optimism set on full I started assembly. I use the term very loosely.

 

 

The more I looked at the parts, the more dismayed I became.   Some locating holes weren't actually holes, and those that were tended to fall off the part leaving only half a hole behind.  Then the pins... the pins....

 

 

I know I said out of the box, but there's a limit to my self inflicted masochism.  This may well have been the shortest period I've ever considered an out of the box build.

Fire up the laptop of an evening and using the kit parts as reference... 

 

 

Now I know the kit engine isn't correct for a real Piranha, but I'm not building a real Piranha  I'm revisiting my childhood and I'm building the Man from UNCLE spy car, and there's some things on that kit engine which are needed to make it a spy car ( which I'll try to remember to reference at an appropriate 'later')

 

 

A quick trial print looked promising - certainly much better than the kit offering.

 

 

I know I've already deviated from the out of the box thing (I don't even know why that phrase in is my vocabulary to be honest - it bites me every time.) but I'm not going overboard on this build. I'm not. Honest.  I just wanted a Man from UNCLE car to go with my 007 DB5 and my Batmobile. A sort of 60's vehicular trilogy.

As much as I was a fan of the series I really cannot remember the car at all though it was definitely used, albeit very infrequently. 

 

 

Anyways, I thought it might be worthwhile to exercise my google-fu and have a look at some other builds to see if I could pick up any tips.  I think the best tip I found was to try and avoid the kit at all costs. 

It seems this is a real pig of a kit and should really just be kept in the box and never built.    Too late, I've started, so I'll finish.

 

More kit exploration led to more and more "what on earth"?   

Take the wheels for instance.  Round2 give you two options on the same rubber tire.  A Goodyear type effort and a simple red sidewall version - the red sidewall is correct for Napoleon & Illya but.... the tire opening is different on both sides. The wheel fits very snuggly on the Goodyear side, but falls right though on the red side wall side. huh?     Nice idea but dreadful execution by Round2.

 

 

so guess what?  

 

 

Can I get much further away from out of the box?  Stay tuned.

 

Look!    I did a bit of assembly.

 

 

When checking what few references there are for this car I noted that there are some paneling features missing on the kit and since I couldn't assemble the engine yet, it made sense to add those.

Then the engine was printed.   I chose to print the engine in an almost complete state as I had determined that I was not, I repeat not going overboard on this build... this is merely a diversion til I get my 504 mojo back in working order again.  Printing it all as one lump seemed like a shortcut and a bit of a time saver.

 

 

I sprayed it black using the remnants of my Alclad black primer - a dangerous choice I know, but it seemed wasteful just to chuck it in the bin.   Maybe I should have though... it was so thick I had to mix it with quite a bit of acetone before I could get it to spray. Maybe the acetone will give it a nice bite and get the alclad to actually stick this time around.

 

 

I mentioned shortcut and time saver above didn't I?  In the same sentence too.  

I can be a real idiot at times.   It sure saved time on assembly but added about two hours of endless aizu & tamiya tape fun trying to mask up for the parts I'd decided should be chromed.

.

 

Rather than have just a black blob with some chrome bits stuffed in the engine compartment I thought I should add some more color.   I used flat aluminum for the cylinders and starter motor and some metallic blue for the distributor cap - it is an American engine after all, so I'm allowed to make it look gaudy or kitsch. I Alclad chromed the fan on top because...

 

 

when you fit the engine cover plate it is about the only thing left visible.  All that work, and I could just have printed a box with a hole in the top and achieved the same end.

 

 

While all that was going on, the printer was doing it's stuff printing out a number of wheels with slightly different diameters, and one of them worked!  The tire doesn't fall off any more

 

 

If I thought painting that engine was difficult, painting those wheels are going to be downright impossible.   I just chromed the one above to see what it looked like in Alclad - the 1:1 was actually fitted with chromed plastic clip on's over the basic steel wheel - that can be seen in this shot below.

 

 

As much as I'd like to get away with just a plain old chromed wheel I think it would look much better with that grey of the steel wheel behind it.  I may look into splitting the chromed part of the wheel off as a separate printed part,  It might be difficult but not totally impossible.

 

I shall leave you with this parting shot.  That "thing" that I'm grasping in the tweezers there is part of the suspension.  The suspension of disbelief I think.   

Try as I may, I just cannot see that lump of plastic as a coil over shock absorber.   And there's 4 of them.

 

 

I should probably also test fit that engine cos if that through hole is in the wrong place, the axle is going to be in the wrong place which in turn means that the wheels are going to be in the wrong place and so on and so on.

 

 

 

That 504 is looking a darned sight more attractive now.  

 

 

 

 

[Pete in Lincs]

Oh Dear. Texan tales of woe, again. Ah well, you'd only get bored if it fell together.

I don't remember it either, though I seem to have watched the programme religiously. 

There was the Corgi Man from UNCLE Oldsmobile, which I had at one time. Now going on line for around 200 quid!

The Piranha looks a bit cramped inside. Nice engine print.  The original was from a Corvair, apparently.

I found a couple of links which may (or may not) help you..

https://www.c-we.com/piranha/UNCLEcar.htm

 

https://www.c-we.com/piranha/page4.htm

 

I'll watch from a safe distance. Good luck.

 

[TonyW]

I suspect the only unmodified part will be the box the kit came in. Very impressive modelling going on here though. 

 

The Corvair motor had a weird fan belt arrangement. The belt ran around the pulleys at the rear of the car but did a flip to horizontal and then looped around the fan assembly. It was usually the first thing a new Corvair owner showed off! 

 

[keefr22]

8 hours ago, hendie said:

As much as I was a fan of the series I really cannot remember the car at all 

 

 

Me neither.

 

I really do envy your ability to design and 3D print things like replacement engines and wheels - really useful in car modelling as what replacement parts are available tend to be rather dear...!! 

 

And as this has now gone way beyond OOB, how about a 3D printed Napoleon Solo and Ilya Kuryakin to finish it off nicely!

 

Keith

[giemme]

I did read "OOB" somewhere in your post, and I'm wondering if my Emglish is failing me and that actually means something different from what I know....

 

 

I knew you were going to tart this up properly,  Alan - excellent start!  

 

Ciao 

[Six97s]

Nice job on the 3D printing.  I would put money on those wheels being cast alloy, with the shiny parts having been machined and polished, something like Appliance Apache or Hollywood Stingray wheels.

 

As an aside, the "chrome" in model kits is actually vacuum plated aluminium,which is why alkalis strip it.  The gunk that's left behind is the lacquer they apply as a base.

[keefr22]

25 minutes ago, giemme said:

knew you were going to tart this up properly,  Alan - excellent start!

 

Nice to see you over in the dark side G - about time you built a car, isn't it?!

 

K

[Pete in Lincs]

Earlier this evening I found one of these on the bay. Buy it now at 29.99 GBP. I ran away smartly.

[giemme]

2 hours ago, keefr22 said:

 

Nice to see you over in the dark side G - about time you built a car, isn't it?!

 

K

That is quite tempting, you know? Any pointers for an absolute beginner?

 

Ciao 

[hendie]

16 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Oh Dear. Texan tales of woe, again. Ah well, you'd only get bored if it fell together.

I don't remember it either, though I seem to have watched the programme religiously. 

There was the Corgi Man from UNCLE Oldsmobile, which I had at one time. Now going on line for around 200 quid!

The Piranha looks a bit cramped inside. Nice engine print.  The original was from a Corvair, apparently.

I found a couple of links which may (or may not) help you..

https://www.c-we.com/piranha/UNCLEcar.htm

 

https://www.c-we.com/piranha/page4.htm

 

I'll watch from a safe distance. Good luck.

 

 

Thanks Pete, I already snaffled what I can from that site, and any others I have found.

I never had the oldsmobile when I was a kid, but I do now, along with the Husky Piranha

 

16 hours ago, TonyW said:

I suspect the only unmodified part will be the box the kit came in. Very impressive modelling going on here though. 

 

The Corvair motor had a weird fan belt arrangement. The belt ran around the pulleys at the rear of the car but did a flip to horizontal and then looped around the fan assembly. It was usually the first thing a new Corvair owner showed off! 

 

<snip>

 

 

thanks Tony, thats about the best shot I've seen of the engine.  I toyed with the idea of adding the pulley and fan belt but there's just not enough room in the engine bay.  My excuse is I'm building this out of the box 

 

11 hours ago, keefr22 said:

 

Me neither.

 

I really do envy your ability to design and 3D print things like replacement engines and wheels - really useful in car modelling as what replacement parts are available tend to be rather dear...!! 

 

And as this has now gone way beyond OOB, how about a 3D printed Napoleon Solo and Ilya Kuryakin to finish it off nicely!

 

Keith

 

That would be nice but way out of my skill set Keith. I did check to see if any were available but none of the ones I found appeared up to scratch

 

5 hours ago, giemme said:

I did read "OOB" somewhere in your post, and I'm wondering if my Emglish is failing me and that actually means something different from what I know....

 

 

I knew you were going to tart this up properly,  Alan - excellent start!  

 

Ciao 

 

yes Giorgio, your English is failing you. I'm definitely doing this one out of the box

 

5 hours ago, Six97s said:

Nice job on the 3D printing.  I would put money on those wheels being cast alloy, with the shiny parts having been machined and polished, something like Appliance Apache or Hollywood Stingray wheels.

 

As an aside, the "chrome" in model kits is actually vacuum plated aluminium,which is why alkalis strip it.  The gunk that's left behind is the lacquer they apply as a base.

 

I think you'd have lost your money. The references I've come across so far all state it was standard steel wheels with some shiny clip ons

 

4 hours ago, keefr22 said:

 

Nice to see you over in the dark side G - about time you built a car, isn't it?!

 

K

 

now that would be interesting

 

2 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Earlier this evening I found one of these on the bay. Buy it now at 29.99 GBP. I ran away smartly.

 

keep running Pete

 

2 hours ago, giemme said:

That is quite tempting, you know? Any pointers for an absolute beginner?

 

Ciao 

 

What's your poison Giorgio?  You could see if there's a model available of what you drive now - then you'll have plenty of references. Or... some of the 2CV kits build up nice, or plenty of VW's around. Personally I like cars with character, and I'm not into the muscle car thing at all.

 

Now that the engine is building up compression I could make a start on the bodywork.  Not a very auspicious start mind you - I sprayed Mr Color Silver on the lower arf and found that there were a few marks I had not quite got rid of.  Back to the drawing board on that one.

 

 

I used Mr Color Super Metallic Silver and I'm not sure if it was the right choice or not.  That's not a complaint of the paint, but on my particular choice in this instance. The paint is almost like an Alclad in that it looks like metal (but much more durable).  I wonder if I should have gone for a more painted silver?   The kit instructions are useless with regards to color choice (and almost everything else) and all I know is that the lower half was silver and the upper half (metallic?) blue.  There are very few contemporary color shots around and the few that there are seem to display a wide range of color. In some photos it looks the same color all over.  Oh well.

 

Remember that coil over shock from yesterday?  I couldn't get it out of my mind so a quick ratch around found some aluminum rod, a couple of aluminum pop rivets (minus the stem) and during the week I had a delivery of a range of stainless steel wires ranging from 26 gauge to 34 gauge.  Yes Giorgio, I'm at it again... The aluminum rod was bent to what I guessed was the right angle(s) - the kit part really wasn't much help then took a couple of thin slices off the rivet head, and finally, wrapped some stainless wire around a 2mm brass rod to make some springy things.

Put them together and what have you got?  Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo ... something that looks like a suspension component.  Well, a lot more than the kit part does so I'm happy.

 

 

I found that although I have literally dozens of paint jars lining my walls that I have very little in the way of standard colors such as blues, greens and reds.  All my paint supplies to date have been geared towards specific aircraft and there's not a lot of choice for car parts.   The best I could find was an Italian Red so on it went.  I opted to keep the springs in natural metal purely for the contrast (and being stainless, they won't rust in this humid environment)

 

 

More engine parts got painted up

 

 

followed by a bit of a balancing act as I don't want to glue these parts on just yet, but wanted to see how it all fits.  It seems a strange configuration for an engine, but what the heck, this is an out of the box build.

 

 

The seats were given a coat of semi-gloss black.  I have to say that despite the pigs ear Round2 made of the rest of the kit, the seats aren't half bad.  I was quite impressed with the wrinkles and general lived-in look of the seats.

 

 

Now, with this being a Spy Car, it goes without saying (but I will anyway) that it should, and does contain a number of spy gadgets. One of those gadgets is a pair of rocket launchers embedded in the doors. Not sure I would want to try and open some gull wing doors driving at 50 mph or more and then try to launch great fiery rockets things from them, but I'm sure Illya & Nappie were made of sterner stuff than I and much more up for the job.  And they probably had plenty spare doors.

Anyways, the kit parts needed a bit of help in the shape of some brass tube

 

 

which was glued into the door panel with E6K.  I did try superglue but bond broke as soon as I started filing.  E6K did the job admirably.  Those are just laying on the doors for this shot.   I have since filled the nasty gaps with Mr Dissolved Putty and will do the clean up tomorrow when that has cured.

 

 

Bouncing around from job to job I decided I may as well make the remaining two shock absorbers.  It's not really a lot of fun making them so best to get the job out of the way so I can get onto more fun things.

Those will be cut to size once I start building the suspension up.

 

 

However I can confirm that the front ones fit.   Look now because once the discs and wheels go on these things will never be seen again.

 

 

With constructive modeling time dwindling away there wasn't really much point in starting anything else so I may as well check out if the engine fits... or not.

A little bit of wangling sees it nudge into position

 

 

and it doesn't appear to interfere with the upper bodyshell - all good so far.

 

 

However it looks as though the axle position could drop a millimeter or two.

 

 

That will be an easy enough fix and won't require another engine print.

 

The silver looks a lot better in that shot.  I'll try hitting it with some gloss coat tomorrow and see how it looks after that.

 

 

 

 

[Pete in Lincs]

7 hours ago, hendie said:

  It seems a strange configuration for an engine,

Flat six, similar to a Porsche, but Americanised. We'll just say that the fan on top has an electric motor then. As do all OOB engines.

Re the colour confusion. If I read those references correctly, there are at least two of these things. 

Nice springs, BTW.

[Neddy]

Nice springs?  Nice engine, rocket launchers, wheels.... which part of OOB did you fail to register? 

It's amazing to see what you're making of a poor quality kit.  Modelling at this level is always a treat to watch and admire, I can't wait to see the finished article.

[keefr22]

14 hours ago, giemme said:

That is quite tempting, you know? Any pointers for an absolute beginner?

 

Ciao 

 

One word G - Tamiya! And pick a car that you like, it's pointless starting with something you don't as you'd likely lose interest very quickly. Even older Tamiya car kits usually go together very well and many are still available brand new at very reasonable prices. 

 

As to building a car, with your skills you'll have no problem! The only real difference to aircraft models is trying to get the best gloss finish you can on the bodyshell, either by airbrushing a base coat and then clearcoat or using a good old rattle can for both, or using a spray can for clearcoat after an airbrushed base coat. I do all three depending on my mood! Depending on how you then feel about your finish you can either leave it as is if you're happy, or go the wet sand/polishing route. My paintjobs always require this now, but I never bothered when I started, decades ago! Wet sanding basically is using very fine grade wet n dry or micromesh at grades 3000 grit or more to get the paint matt again! Then polish it back to high gloss with something like the three Tamiya polishing compounds, or even full size car polishes and compounds.

 

If you want to know anything else, drop me a PM

 

K

[keefr22]

I really like how you've made those kit parts look so good @hendie, excellent OOB modelling....!!  

 

Keith

[giemme]

Yes Alan, you're at it again....

 

Great progress, BTW!

 

And thanks both @hendie and @keefr22 for the pointers on car models, I shall ponder

 

Ciao 

[heloman1]

Alan, what were you thinking, out of the box, where did that term come from? You very well know it doesn't exist for the likes of you and and I and a few others that grace the pages of BM.

I do like your rendering and production of the engine, a little gem!

 

Colin

[hendie]

On 7/31/2022 at 1:43 AM, Pete in Lincs said:

Flat six, similar to a Porsche, but Americanised. We'll just say that the fan on top has an electric motor then. As do all OOB engines.

Re the colour confusion. If I read those references correctly, there are at least two of these things. 

Nice springs, BTW.

 

I think I have found a color that's going to work.  i.e. the only light blue metallic I can find.

 

On 7/31/2022 at 5:14 AM, Neddy said:

Nice springs?  Nice engine, rocket launchers, wheels.... which part of OOB did you fail to register? 

It's amazing to see what you're making of a poor quality kit.  Modelling at this level is always a treat to watch and admire, I can't wait to see the finished article.

 

Poor quality is being a bit kind to be honest.  Nothing fits, and I mean nothing!   There's going to be some artistic licence used on this one.

 

On 7/31/2022 at 6:21 AM, keefr22 said:

 

One word G - Tamiya! And pick a car that you like, it's pointless starting with something you don't as you'd likely lose interest very quickly. Even older Tamiya car kits usually go together very well and many are still available brand new at very reasonable prices. 

 

As to building a car, with your skills you'll have no problem! The only real difference to aircraft models is trying to get the best gloss finish you can on the bodyshell, either by airbrushing a base coat and then clearcoat or using a good old rattle can for both, or using a spray can for clearcoat after an airbrushed base coat. I do all three depending on my mood! Depending on how you then feel about your finish you can either leave it as is if you're happy, or go the wet sand/polishing route. My paintjobs always require this now, but I never bothered when I started, decades ago! Wet sanding basically is using very fine grade wet n dry or micromesh at grades 3000 grit or more to get the paint matt again! Then polish it back to high gloss with something like the three Tamiya polishing compounds, or even full size car polishes and compounds.

 

If you want to know anything else, drop me a PM

 

K

 

or if you're doing an older vehicle, you don't need to worry about the clear coat and just a wax polish will be enough

 

On 7/31/2022 at 6:30 AM, keefr22 said:

I really like how you've made those kit parts look so good @hendie, excellent OOB modelling....!!  

 

Keith

 

A bit of fettling here, a bit of fettling there, try and figure out what it's supposed to look like, then throw it in the bin and go make something from scratch.  Easy.

 

On 7/31/2022 at 11:47 AM, giemme said:

Yes Alan, you're at it again....

 

Great progress, BTW!

 

And thanks both @hendie and @keefr22 for the pointers on car models, I shall ponder

 

Ciao 

 

done pondering yet Giorgio?   I'm interested to see where you head with this one.

 

On 8/4/2022 at 10:54 AM, heloman1 said:

Alan, what were you thinking, out of the box, where did that term come from? You very well know it doesn't exist for the likes of you and and I and a few others that grace the pages of BM.

I do like your rendering and production of the engine, a little gem!

 

Colin

 

thanks Colin.   Maybe I should have been more specific on which parts out of the box?   About three so far I think.

 

It's been a bit of a funny week. Our illustrious leaders at work have decided that it's time for us to go back to the office and this was my first full week. I'm actually allowed to work a hybrid model and can work from home for a couple of days a week but that means having to remember to take the laptop and some other bits and pieces home and this week I couldn't be bothered taxing my brain so much so worked from work for a change. The novelty wore off about 5 minutes after I got in my car on Monday morning.

 

Talking of cars... I was attempting to build one wasn't I?   I even made some progress this week by adding the inner tub.  It was an interesting fit - they gave me a choice of having it fit at the front, fot at the back, or fit at the middle. Another choice would have been to have it fit at all three locations but sadly that was not to be.  I think I chose for it to fit at the front but I'm not really sure where it ended up.

 

 

With the tub in place I was finally able to fix the engine in position and hope for the best.  I also fitted some suspension bits that allowed me to check that an axle, in this case a brass tube, will fit and everything will align.  I should mention that I chose a brass tube and not the kit axle mainly beacuse the kit axle is no long enough.

 

 

Shock absorbers went on, eventually. Using the kit parts as a template was no good as they didn't fit, and it was one of those trim a bit, offer it up, trim a bit more and so on. Not particularly difficult, just tedious.

 

 

Both front and rear were fitted but I seem to have omitted to take a shot of the front end.  To be honest, it looks much like this.   Just the other way up. 

 

 

A few more engine bits were fitted which effectively hide all that work I did on the engine.  I noted (quite happily) in my last post that the engine didn't interfere with the upper bodyshell.  It still doesn't, but once I had the engine in it's final resting place I test fitted some of the ancillary components (fans and smoke dispenser) and discovered that they all successfully interfere with the engine lid and prevent it from getting anywhere near closing.  Engine lid?   Or is it a bonnet?  Is it still a bonnet when it's at the back?  Or is it the boot? Doesn't seem right to say you have your engine in the boot - that's normally not a good sign.

 

 

A bit perturbed, I went back and double checked all my engine dimensions and found that there was no discernible difference in sizes which means that the basic kit never fitted together in the first place. 

Maybe it's for the better.  The engine lid didn't really fit in the opening all that well so having the bonnet  boot  engine lid posed open will hide that particular fault.

 

 

That in turn meant that I could add some detail (if you can call three pieces of plasticard detail?) to the underside. It's sort of like what can be seen on the 1:1 but with a dash of artistic licence.

 

 

The bodyshell was given a coat of primer

 

 

and as it was drying I spotted some other panel details I had missed previously, so when the primer dried off I added the visually stimulating, okay, slightly less bland panel details.

 

 

***edit***   Darned ghost post again.

 

I also added what I assume to be an air vent?

 

 

A couple of holes were drilled for the door lock mechanism, then the appropriate parts were given a light coat of testors wood in anticipation of some oils as there are no decals in the kit to represent the awful plastic wood panels present in the 1:1.  

 

 

***edit*** now this is getting annoying - that was the second ghost post on this thread.

 

In next week exciting episode I may have figured out what to do with these amazing kit offerings.  It's hard to see here but in lieu of having wood decals in the kit for the dashboard, some lunatic decided that it would be a good idea to hit the mold with what I can only guess was an angle grinder in an attempt to add some wood grain.  As for the weapons tray... 

 

 

I'm not sure which is worse... those items in the shot above or these... the kit doors and glazing.   The manufacturers kindly supply both clear glass and smoked glass versions.  I dug out the smoked glass option to use as templates for any tweaks that might be needed and got a bit of a shock when I tried to fit them.

 

 

ah - it turns out they're not supposed to fit in the door. They're designed to be fitted behind the door!  Leaving a lovely chunky armor plated looking frame in front of the glass.

 

 

Now I am sure there are some redeeming qualities about this kit.  I just haven't found any of them yet.   Even by 60's standards, this is pretty poor molding and poor design.

 

504, where are you?  

 

 

[Pete in Lincs]

15 minutes ago, hendie said:

The engine lid didn't really fit in the opening all that well

I've seen worse. It all seems to be bending to your will though. I'm confident that you will win in the end. 

I'll also go with engine lid. Enjoy your commutes.

[Neddy]

Although I really feel your frustration I'm loving what you're achieving with what is in essence a bloody awful kit. 

[Six97s]

Plastic wheel covers? Would never have guessed. 

 

It's looking good, considering....   if you fancy a real challenge, try an AMT truck kit - no part numbers on the sprues, vague instructions and the same sloppy fit you're already enjoying.

[giemme]

23 hours ago, hendie said:

done pondering yet Giorgio?   I'm interested to see where you head with this one.

I'm done pondering, yes. Following your hint, I did search for a model of the car I currently drive, but there are none (probably too new and maybe not so interesting). So I payed a visit to my LMS and followed @keefr22 advice, and bought a Tamiya kit:

 

 

Mainly because it was the only Tamiya kit at a reasonable price (for a first time with a car model, at least); it was in fact pre-owned, so I could get it at a bargain price. The only problem is that the decals are missing, but I figure it won't be a big deal - there were probably three of them, all in all

 

Done using kit parts on this build yet?  

 

Ciao

 

[The Spadgent]

Amazing!!! Following along now after a lovely catch up.  Makes me want to do my Ecto 1 🤔 great work on the printed engine and wheels. 🤤

 I’ll tag along and watch with awe as the magic happens. 🤩🤩🤩

 

And @giemme buying car kits. 😯

 

 whatever next? 😉

 

 Johnny

[TheBaron]

I'm sorry that I hadn't twigged this was up and running sooner Alan. To be honest, with your technical background I'd always simply just assumed that you worked for U.N.C.L.E. in some undisclosed capacity and probably looked like Napoleon Solo.

 

Is it possible that kit partially melted whilst in transit to you?

On 30/07/2022 at 23:34, hendie said:

The best I could find was an Italian Red so on it went.

In fairness, I would probably have begun using wine at that point too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pete in Lincs]

1 hour ago, TheBaron said:

probably looked like Napoleon Solo.

Or this bloke

[keefr22]

On 07/08/2022 at 20:35, giemme said:

and bought a Tamiya kit:

 

And that's a good choice G, nice classic Tamiya car kit of a lovely car! Only thing you might want to address if it were to bother you is that the kit has a join line where the rear spoiler is attached that doesn't exist on the real one so needs filling if you feel inclined. Look forward to seeing it built!

 

Now back to the latest episode of the Man from U.N.C.L.E....!! 

 

Keith